Totaled (14 page)

“Mick, let me call you back,” I said, interrupting him mid-sentence and hanging up.

***

BREE

The salty breeze in my face and crunching of sand under my running shoes were an instant cure for any lingering hangover effects. My lungs burned and my muscles achingly stretched as I hit my stride. Sweat started to bead above my lip and drip down, falling slowly in between my breasts as The Violent Femmes started serenading me. I cranked up my music and matched my stride to the beat of “Kiss Off.”

When the song ended, I abruptly stopped running and bent over. With my hands on my knees, I gasped for air to fill my lungs. I had just gone nearly three miles and abruptly halted my run after just being at a full sprint. My chest burned and my leg muscles spasmed. Not able to catch my breath, I raised my arms above my head and rested my palms over my forehead. Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I struggled to slow my breathing. I felt like I was suffocating. I pulled my t-shirt off and tossed it to the sand. I normally wouldn’t run in just sports bra, but I felt like I was getting choked by my clothes. No one was ever this far north anyway.

***

DREW

Leaning over the wooden railing of my deck, I watched as she came to an abrupt halt and keeled over, gasping for air. A little worried, I rushed down the stairs, heading to the sand to see if she needed help, not taking my eyes off of her. The closer I came to her, the more concerned I got. She was wheezing and struggling to catch her breath, raising her hands in the air to expand her lungs more, pacing around frantically in a circle. She paused when I was about twenty yards away, faced the water, and shrugged off her t-shirt, throwing it to the ground angrily. She stood staring out into the waves with her hands on her hips. I stopped walking towards her and just watched her. She was definitely an athlete, her legs slim but toned with perfect calf muscles and smooth, firm thighs. Her hamstrings were flexed, almost in protest, from going from a full sprint to a sudden stop. Her heart-shaped ass was perky and rounded with just the right amount of feminine curve to it, restrained in skintight spandex shorts like a beach volleyball player would wear.

I admired her beautifully toned back and shoulders as her breathing slowly came to a calmer, steadier rate. The palms of my hands itched to touch her. Her body almost reminded me of the girl at the gym, which instantly made me think that it was ill-advised to move any closer to this unsuspecting stranger. I wasn’t trying to get my ass kicked twice in one week.

As if she sensed someone behind her, she turned her head slightly to the left and saw that I was standing there. She ripped her earphones out of her ears and turned to face me.

Holy. Mother. Of. God. It WAS the girl from the gym!!!

“Can I help you?” she asked with an attitude as her left eyebrow raised, perked in question.

“I saw you from up there,” I said, pointing up to my deck. “You looked like you were about to pass out. I came down to check on you. To make sure you were okay.”
Jesus, help me, she was beautiful. So. Damned. Beautiful.

“I’m fine. Sorry I concerned you,” she said dismissively as she bent down to retrieve her t-shirt and started shaking the sand off.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I took all of her in. She was breathtaking. I almost couldn’t catch my breath as I looked at her. Her stomach was smooth and flat and I couldn’t help but gaze over her breasts. They weren’t large, but not small either, perky and round, confined tightly in her sports bra. I noticed her nipples were hard as she pulled her t-shirt back over her head, obviously shy about standing there in just a bra in front of me. I felt like a sleazeball for having less than appropriate thoughts about her. Especially since this was, of course, my new coach’s daughter, a girl who had kicked the crap out of me, and someone I hadn’t even properly met.

Bringing my eyes up to hers, I was instantly lost. I felt abandoned and alone in a sea of crystal blue with darker sapphire outer rings. Her eyelashes were dark and insanely long, fanned out over her flawless skin. Her cute button nose sat in the middle of a sprinkle of freckles splashed along her upper cheeks. Aware that I could barely form any intelligible thought, I stuck out my right hand to offer a shake. “I’m Drew.”

Leaving my hand stranded in the air, she replied, “I know who you are. I know you’re new to town and just joined my gym. Liam’s new sparring partner or something right?”

“Well, not exactly. Maybe Liam is MY new sparring partner,” I attempted to joke.

She apparently didn’t find it very funny. Her alluring, full, perfectly glossy lips morphed themselves into thin lines of anger. Her radiant, creamy pale skin, wet with sweat and just begging to be tasted, creased into wrinkles as she pulled her eyebrows together in a determined expression. Her round doe eyes, which were open and welcoming only seconds earlier, squinted into slits as she narrowed them at me with distaste.

“Listen…Drew. I don’t know you, I don’t know what your story is, and frankly, I don’t really care. But if you think you’re just going to waltz into town and start calling the shots, you have a rude awakening in store. You so much as even think about doing something to hurt Liam, and I will fucking end you!” she threatened.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down. Nobody is hurting anyone…except you, actually. I’m the one standing here with a broken nose and bruised ribs,” I blurted out. I had no idea where all of this hostility was coming from. I hadn’t done anything to her and apparently my poor attempt at trying to make this whole thing less awkward with humor was making it worse.

“Well, I don’t know how they do it where you’re from, but here it’s considered rude to sneak up behind people. As far as I’m concerned, you deserved it,” she responded rudely, starting to backing peddle away from me. “Thanks for checking on me, but I can take care of myself. You already learned that the hard way, didn’t you?” And she took off jogging the other way.

I stood there, dumbfounded. I could do nothing but stare as she ran away, her loose braid swinging back and forth as those gorgeous legs took her farther and farther south. What a bitch. A beautiful, intriguing, temperamental, gorgeous, challenging, hot-bodied, feisty bitch.

Chapter Sixteen

BREE

After jogging back to where I parked my car and promptly vomiting all over the sandy pavement, it occurred to me that I might be sick. Well, maybe not. It was probably just the bottle of wine that I drank last night at Sue’s house on an empty stomach with no dinner to follow. It could also be the extremely awkward confrontation I just had with Drew Dougherty, the hot ass new fighter that just had to join my gym (and therefore join my life). If first impressions are anything to go by, he won’t be knocking on my door anytime soon. I felt like pure death, so I knew I must have looked like it. With my just-rolled-out-of-bed-that-wasn’t-even-a-bed-but-rather-an-uncomfortable-couch hair matted to my face with sweat and puffy dark circles under my sleepy eyes, I was certainly quite the looker this morning. I took my t-shirt off again and exchanged my sneakers and sweaty socks for a pair of flip flops from the trunk, then crawled into my driver’s seat and reached for the visor mirror.

Oh my God, it’s even worse than I thought. And what in the hell had gotten into me? Where did that behavior even come from?

Slamming the visor back up into its resting position along the roof of the car, I brought both of my hands up to my face and let my head fall into my palms. I was an absolute train wreck.

Could this week get any worse?

I drove to my house, walked straight to the kitchen, and poured myself a huge cup of ice water. I pretty much inhaled it. I’d never felt so thirsty in all of my life. My head was throbbing, but my ego was what was really hurting. I felt so embarrassed, but even worse, I was so rude to him. To Drew. I was never rude to anyone. I couldn’t even think straight in front of him.

My right hamstring started to cramp and I realized that I never even stretched before my run. I sat on the living room floor and was almost shaking as I extended my legs out into a split, reaching for my toes. I couldn’t get the image of his face out of my mind. He was so incredibly hot. He came all the way down to the beach with his flippantly mussed bedhead and no shoes on to check on me. And he was actually concerned. He might just be a nice person. I must’ve looked how I felt. And I was rotten to him. I remember the hurt in his eyes when I didn’t shake his hand. Those eyes, my God. I could just get lost in them. He was facing the ocean for our entire conversation and the early morning sun was just gleaming into them, pointing out every single fleck of brilliant dark emerald green like I was going to be quizzed on it. So mysterious, so masculine, so sexy, yet they were kind eyes. They were trustworthy and safe. And I basically spit in them with my attitude problem.

I was ashamed of my behavior and I had no idea what to do about fixing it. As I sat there on the floor, contorting my legs in different angles to stretch my hamstrings and quads, I thought of Liam and my father. Drew was actually in Liam’s weight class, and they were sparring well together yesterday. With Drew’s previously successful record and my dad’s experience to shape him into an even better fighter, this could actually be Liam’s chance at some real training. I couldn’t let my selfish, immature incapability of controlling my emotions and hormones potentially ruin anything for any of them. I had to apologize. I needed to grow up and deal with this situation like a mature professional. But as I got up from the floor, I felt a sudden uproarious wave of nausea hit me. I sprinted to the hallway bathroom, barely making it to the toilet, to wretch and throw up every drop of water I had just consumed. Then, I wretched again with dry heaves, bringing up only bile to follow.

When I could finally peel myself off of the cold bathroom floor, I texted Liam and Dad that I wasn’t feeling well and would be staying home for the rest of the day. I even told them they were on their own for dinner, which is what finally got me a reply from my dad.

Dad: Are you ok? Need me to bring you anything?

Me: No, I have everything I need. Thanks. Call me before you come home. Just in case.

Dad: Ok. Get some rest.

Not even having the energy to take a shower first, I crawled into my bed, closed my eyes, and I fell asleep almost instantly.

***

I awoke and turned over onto my back, not sure how long I had been asleep, slowly opening my eyes just wide enough to make out someone sitting on my bed next to me. Liam.

“Are you okay? You’ve been sleeping for a really long time,” he said with worry in his voice.

“What time is it?” I asked, immediately regretting talking once I tasted and smelled my own breath.

“It’s ten o’clock,” he said, “in the morning.”

“In the morning? Oh my God, Liam. I’ve been asleep since yesterday morning,” I croaked and sat up, my head pounding in protest. “Liam, can you please get me some water?”

“I already brought you some,” he said, retrieving it from the bedside table and handing it to me. I couldn’t swallow it fast enough. “And I made you some toast.”

I scarfed down the bread like I hadn’t eaten in days, which was actually almost true. “Thank you. I’m starving, apparently,” I joked.

“Want me to make you something else? Like some cereal or a sandwich?” he offered.

“No, I should probably try something like soup. I’ll get up and do it,” I told him, pulling the covers off. It was then that I noticed that I was still wearing my spandex shorts and sports bra that I had run on the beach in. And there was definitely sand in my sheets. Gross. I smelled foul. “You know what, Liam? Do you mind heating up some soup for me? Just open a can of chicken noodle soup from in the pantry and pour it into one of the red glass bowls. You don’t have to add water to it, just heat it in the microwave for two minutes,” I instructed him.

“Sure. I know how to heat up soup, you know,” he reminded me, looking offended.

“I know,” I said, feeling bad for treating him like a child. “I just don’t like it as hot as you and Dad do,” I explained, trying to smooth it over. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

He walked out of my room and I closed the door behind him to undress. My muscles were sore and aching, which wasn’t typical for me, and I felt so weak. I had to be dehydrated. When the hot water hit my face and poured over my body, I thought that it had to have been in the top ten best showers I had ever taken in my life. It felt amazing to wash my hair and de-funk my body, washing off the sweaty run I’d taken on the beach the morning before. I couldn’t believe I had crawled into bed like that, but I really didn’t even remember it. As I ran the soapy pouf over my body, I thought of the paper that was due tomorrow for my English composition class. I remembered that I had to wash my sheets. I tried to recall what we had in the refrigerator that I could throw together for dinner tonight. I thought about everything on my desk that I had to take care of at the gym. Thinking of the gym made me think of Drew. What was I going to do about Drew?

I dressed in comfortable lounge-around-the-house clothes and walked out into the kitchen still wearing my towel twisted up on top of my head. I sipped my soup and drank some lemon-lime sports drink. Feeling better and better by the minute, I thanked Liam for helping me. He came and sat across from me in the breakfast nook.

“Drew asked about you yesterday,” he revealed like it was a huge secret.

Piquing my interest, I asked, “Oh yeah? What did he say?” I didn’t want to seem overly interested or eager, so I tried to play it cool, but I wasn’t a very good actress. I wondered if Liam could actually pick up on my nervousness.

“He said that he ran into you and that you didn’t look good. He just asked if you were okay.”